Overall Rating
  Awesome: 76.92%
Worth A Look: 13.46%
Average: 5.77%
Pretty Bad: 1.92%
Total Crap: 1.92%
6 reviews, 172 user ratings
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| Silence of the Lambs, The |
by Ryan Arthur
"Best thing for him, really. His therapy was going nowhere."
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One of the great psychological thrillers of the last several years.There's a madman on the loose. He's been given the nickname "Buffalo Bill" because he kidnaps larger women, holds them captive for a while, then skins them. No one's exactly sure why. The investigation is going nowhere fast, so FBI Agent Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) decides to send a trainee named Clarice Starling (Best Actress winner Jodie Foster) to see a captured mass murderer named Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter (Best Actor winner Anthony Hopkins). Crawford thinks that Lecter can help offer clues on how and where to search for Buffalo Bill, and that he'd be more likely to speak with a woman. Starling goes in.
And so begins a nifty little psychological battle between Hannibal The Cannibal and Starling. She's looking for advancement, and Lecter's the ticket. She's driven by her work, and she's passionate for it. She also wants justice done. Lecter has his own agenda, ultimately to escape. He's intellectually superior to nearly everyone, but young Starling makes an interesting adversary, if that could best describe her.
Lecter delves into Starling's personal life, breaking her down ("you're one generation up from poor white trash") and then building her up slightly, all the while throwing in tidbits about the investigation, whether it's using anagrams or obtuse clues. Starling, still driven, opens up to Lecter and aids in the investigation, letting Lecter into her head, despite Crawford's admonition not to.
I loved this film, and I loved the novel that it was based on. Hopkins just so perfectly embodies evil as Lecter. He's so perfectly creepy from the moment we first see him - standing, arms at his sides, at rest - that we start to get a feel for how evil he really is. Hopkins is obviously one of those great British actors who doesn't play it over the top (imagine if Lecter were played by, say, Dennis Hopper), but instead makes it much more subtle, and therefore much more sinister.
Foster gets upstaged by Hopkins, but not necessarily overwhelmed. Starling's a strong female character, extremely steady and confident, even in a room full of country cops during an autopsy, or in an elevator full of male trainees where she's the only woman. She's not superhuman, she's just smarter than the average.
Ultimately creepy in so many ways (when you see what Buffalo Bill is making, your jaw'll drop), but just sooooo good. Strong performances (Best Actor and Actress in the 1992 Academy Awards, in addition to Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay), and just a really fascinating flick.Well worth your time.
 del.icio.us 
link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=1927&reviewer=7
originally posted: 04/09/99 02:17:16
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Trilogy Starters: For more in the Trilogy Starters series, click here.
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USA
13-Feb-1991 (R)
DVD: 30-Jan-2007
UK
N/A
Australia
N/A (M)
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